Children and young people across the country experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19). Those from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds were among the hardest hit. The aggregate impact of lost time in education was substantial. Returning to normal educational routines as quickly as possible was critical to our national recovery and we have enabled students to catch up on lost learning quickly and effectively, exemplified by our outstanding GCSE results.
Also of significant importance are the resources we dedicated to closing gaps in students’ learning. The Covid-19 Recovery Premium is funded on a per Pupil Premium pupil basis at £276 per pupil. Though funding was calculated on a per pupil basis, schools were directed to use the sum available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for pupils according to their need. As the premium was designed to mitigate the effects of the unique disruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), this grant was initially only available for the 20-21 academic year but has since been extended to the end of the 23-24 academic year.
City of London Academy Shoreditch Park received £113,839 for 412 pupils in 22-23.
This compares to £72,860 for 349 pupils in 21-22. NB the initial allocation per pupil was £145.
Schools were tasked with using this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to catch up for lost teaching over the previous months, in line with the guidance on curriculum expectations for the next academic year. Schools had the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their individual cohort and circumstances.
There is extensive high-quality evidence demonstrating the potential of one-to-one and small-group tuition as a cost-effective way to support pupils who are falling behind in their learning; the EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit suggests it can boost progress by up to +5 months.
The recovery premium was therefore dedicated to employing academic mentors in English and Maths to ensure our most vulnerable year 11 students were supported across the curriculum as they approached their exams. A robust quality assurance process is in place involving rigorous recruitment processes, SLT monitoring of 1:1 sessions, work scrutiny and pupil data analysis. Now that we have emerged from the pandemic, we continue to employ academic tutors to support students who are at risk of underachieving due to learning loss.